Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen play Hirst and Spooner in Harold Pinter‘s “No Man’s Land,” a drawing-room drama about two men in their 60s who grapple with memory, the past and hard truths about the present.

The actors, both in their early 70s, say they drew upon their own age and experience in approaching the play. ”We have lived some decades and so have the characters,” Stewart says. “I suppose 20 years ago we’d have given a pretty good representation of performing it, but now quite a lot of it is very real.”

McKellen adds that Stewart’s Hirst, has memory problems tied to drink and age, and his own character, Spooner, is constantly fighting to get Hirst back into the present.

“That’s the story of ‘No Man’s Land’ — how do you cope with being a bit decrepit?” McKellen says.

Watch the clip from the WSJ video interview with Stewart and McKellen on “No Man’s Land.”